coRNus. 349 



grccable to eat ; and, on the continent of Europe, it is frequently used in confec- 

 tionary, and for making marmalades, robs, and liqueurs. It is mixed with apples, 

 and pears in making cider; and, gathered in an unripe state, and preserved in 

 salt and water, it is used as a substitute for pickled olives. When mature, and 

 treated like ripe olives, it yields an oil, which may be used for various purposes, 

 but not for the table. As an ornamental tree, the cornel is not only valuable on 

 account of its early flowering, and the fine display made by its ripe fruit, but 

 because it is a low tree, and one which, after it has attained a height of ten or 

 twelve feet, is of slow growth, and of very great duration. For these last rea- 

 sons, it is particularly suitable for small suburban gardens, or for situations of 

 limited space. 



The order Cornacge includes but one other genus, the Benthamia, which 

 embraces the strawberry-bearing benthamia, (Benthamia fragifera,) a native of 

 Nepal, where it grows to a small tree, approaching, in the general appearance 

 and character of its leaves and flowers, to the Cornus florida, but differing from 

 that species in its fruit. Allied to the same natural family are the various species 

 of currants and gooseberries, (Ribes) ; the Virginian itea, (Ilea virginica) ; seve- 

 ral species of Escallonia, sub-evergreen, half-hardy shrubs, natives of South 

 America ; the Carolinian angelica-tree, (Aralia spinosa) ; the Chinese guilder 

 rose, (Hydrangea hortensia,) well known by its ample corymbs of snowball-like 

 flowers, which are of a whitish-green when they first appear, but which after- 

 wards become of a fine rose-colour, and finally die off with a purplish tinge ; the 

 shrubby bupleurum, or hare's ear, (Bupleurum fruticosom,) a beautiful evergreen 

 shrub, a native of the south of Europe, with smooth, shining foliage of a glau- 

 cous hue; and the common ivy, (Hedera helix,) well known to the classical an- 

 cients as well as to the amateurs and cultivators of the present day. And 

 still more nearly allied to the genus Cornus is the witch-hazel, (Hamamelis vir- 

 ginica,) a curious shrub, native of North America from Canada to Florida; some- 

 times growing to a height of twenty or thirty feet; and putting forth, late in 

 autumn or early in winter, small yellowish flowers. The male plant sometimes 

 shows a few female flowers ; but no male flowers have been observed on a female 

 plant. The male blossoms usually appear in October, and continue throughout 

 the winter; and the female flowers, which are very ornamental, begin to open by 

 the 1st of November. This shrub is much esteemed by the American Indians 

 for its medicinal virtues ; and it was formerly held in high repute by the supor- 

 stitious, for its supposed divining powers. 



